Free Republic

Opportunities for producing and assembling products and their components have spread worldwide, making it is easier for countries to climb the production value ladder. States at the bottom, extracting raw materials, can gradually move up, first making low-value components and then progressing to higher-value ones or basic assembly. But just as technology spurred globalization and the shifts in international trade that followed, so, too, will it revolutionize how countries again do business with one another. Compounded by the economic and demographic changes taking place today, automation, advanced robotics and software-driven technologies are ushering in a new era — one of...

Interesting, I am 77 years old, born and raised without parents. All my adult life I have been trying to get a birth certificate. Finally, 4 years ago I managed to get my delayed birth certificate. When I tried to get a passport card to go on a short cruise to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary I was told I cannot get one unless I have someone who can attest to my birth that was there. At my age, good luck on someone who is still alive. This is what is happening to our freedom. Paperwork upon paperwork just to...

Andrew Cash, a former student at Missouri State University, is suing the institution over his dismissal from a graduate program in counseling. Cash has retained counsel from the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm, and has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Governors of Missouri State University. Cash and his lawyers contend that he was dismissed from the university’s Master’s program in counseling because he expressed concern over counseling same-sex couples due to his religious convictions. In an exclusive interview, Spero News interviewed attorney Tom Olp of the Thomas More Society, which is representing Cash....

One of the predominant themes of the 2016 presidential campaign thus far — and one that is unlikely to lose significance once the primaries give way to the general election — is the American people’s exasperation with a political system they see as corrupt, self-serving, disingenuous and out of touch. Advertisement Advertisement It is not an especially partisan or ideological sentiment; you can just as easily find it among supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders as among fans of Donald Trump. You can even find those who support paragons of the status quo, like Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush, making similar...

Ted Cruz is continuing to consolidate support from among many of his primary rivals. Recently, as leader Ben Carson has seen a virtual implosion within his campaign, and with his poll numbers in a freefall, Cruz has surged into the lead in Iowa, and is in a solid second place nationally as well as in South Carolina, Florida, Nevada and Georgia. Cruz's surge is largely based on picking up the support of Carson voters, especially evangelical voters who are leaving Carson for Cruz in large numbers. But Cruz is also seeing support come his way from the "Liberty" movement. Steve...

"Chatting" with a FB friend and discussing the 2nd. Send me to wikipedia for a quick view and noticed the following: "There are actually two different versions: As passed by the Congress and preserved in the National Archives, with the rest of the original hand-written copy of the Bill of Rights prepared by scribe William Lambert:[29] (p) A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, then-Secretary of State:[30] A well regulated...

In 35 years time -- time enough for several presidents, more than a few changes in the control of Congress, and a few dozen new seasons of "House of Cards" -- America will look different. Not entirely different of course, but, as we've noted in the past, its demographics will have shifted enough to be noticeable. And with the release of new projections from Pew Research tracking how religious beliefs are expected to evolve, we now have a fuller picture of how America will have changed by the time today's toddlers are stalking Capitol Hill. Even if we don't necessarily...

Did you listen to Jeb Bush make his announcement yesterday? Did you hear loud cheers from a crowd that seemed excited at the prospect that there could be another Bush as President? Was I the only one confused? I don’t know one person who doesn’t threaten to leave the Country if it’s Bush vs Clinton for President again. Can’t imagine folks actually excited and cheering for Jeb. It got me wondering, would someone like Jeb, or another candidate that’s been struggling like he has, hire a crowd? Pay people to attend their rallies to make them seem like their gaining...

A white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina has been charged with murder after video emerged of him shooting an unarmed black man in the back while he was trying to run away, reports the Charleston Post and Courier. The two had been involved in a scuffle. The man, 50-year-old Walter Scott, died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager, 33, shot at him eight times, though it is not immediately clear how many shots hit him. Scott had been stopped for a broken tail light, and he ran from police “because he owed child support,” said his family,...

The reigning assumption, of course, is that the law Gov. Mike Pence signed and then gutted after the media unleashed its fury is now exacerbating the rift between business- and libertarian-inclined Republicans who favor same-sex marriage and the social conservatives who oppose it. But is it? The reality suggests the opposite. Today the strongest arguments for protecting the right of, say, an evangelical Christian baker to decline baking a cake for a gay wedding are not coming from religious leaders or social conservatives. They are coming from libertarians, many if not most of whom themselves support same-sex marriage.

Utah is considering a bill that would allow patients with certain debilitating conditions to be treated with edible forms of marijuana. If the bill passes, the state's wildlife may "cultivate a taste" for the plant, lose their fear of humans, and basically be high all the time. That's according to testimony presented to a Utah Senate panel (time stamp 58:00) last week by an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "I deal in facts. I deal in science," said special agent Matt Fairbanks, who's been working in the state for a decade. He is member of the "marijuana eradication" team...

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Board of the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) voted Thursday to rescind its endorsement of Representative Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine 2nd CD, after he voted against the repeal of Obamacare. Poliquin was one of only three Republicans to vote against the repeal because, he claimed, "more than 60,000 Mainers have invested their time and energy in choosing health care plans that work for their families." Poliquin said he would only vote to repeal Obamacare if Republicans had a replacement bill ready to vote on at the same time. "We were both stunned and disappointed by Rep. Poliquin's...

Public education has been a slowly degenerating disaster throughout the West, and now it seems we’re exporting it to the rest. At a United Nations meeting 15 years ago, the world’s governments agreed on the goal of enrolling every child on the planet in primary schooling by this year. Indeed, they have nearly succeeded, with 2014’s reports indicating that 90 percent of children in developing regions now attend primary school. Presumably, the numbers for developed countries are above 95 percent. But strangely, this lofty plan did not say anything about the quality of the schooling into which we have now...

Every time a liberal bemoans “big money” in politics, it somehow always invokes the name “Koch” when, in fact, it should invoke the name “Soros”. George Soros, hedge fund billionaire, Nazi sympathizer, also known as the man who “broke the bank of England” despises the idea of “free markets” and capitalism as symbolized by the United States. As such, it’s become his life’s goal to create an “open society” which would, accordingly to Robert Chandler of Accuracy in Meida, “require terminating U.S. sovereignty, disposing of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights, or at least modifying them...

Hoping some Freepers might take interest in this local race in west Kentucky. My candidate is running for judge executive in Marshall County, Kentucky. His name is Kevin Neal, and he's a decorated U.S. Marine. During his 20 years of service he served security tours in Bosnia and Haiti and three combat tours in Iraq. During his time in Iraq he led five 6-man sniper teams on 50 Guardian Angel missions as a Scout Sniper Sergeant. He was wounded in a mortar attack in 2004. He returned to Iraq in 2006. His medals include the Purple Heart and the USO...

Cop Smiles And Waves To The Camera After Murdering Innocent Man With His Bare Hands

Imagine if I were to tell you there is a large group of government employees, with generous salaries and ridiculously cushy retirement pensions covered by the taxpayer, who enjoy incredible job security and are rarely held accountable even for activities that would almost certainly earn the rest of us prison time. When there is proven misconduct, these government employees are merely reassigned and are rarely dismissed. The bill for any legal settlements concerning their errors? It, too, is covered by the taxpayers. Their unions are among the strongest in the country. No, I’m not talking about public-school teachers. I’m talking...

Tea party-backed Rep. Justin Amash has made enough enemies in the Republican Party so that he shouldn't be surprised when he faces a tough primary challenge. But even by Amash's standards, businessman Brian Ellis's campaign against him in Michigan's 3rd District has been aggressive.

Some of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides blasted the New York Times for what they said was unfair coverage of the former first lady during a recent secret meeting with the paper’s Washington bureau, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.Sources said the meeting included Clinton advisers Philippe Reines and Huma Abedin, as well as Times Washington bureau chief Carolyn Ryan and national political reporter Amy Chozick, who has been on the Clinton beat for the paper.During the closed-door gathering, Clinton aides reportedly griped about the paper’s coverage of the potential 2016 candidate, arguing that Clinton has left public office and not be subjected...

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Grover Norquist, the influential conservative who serves as president of Americans for Tax Reform, thinks there are only six Republicans who can win the 2016 Republican nomination for president. His list, which he told Business Insider in an approximately hour-long interview Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. "There are only six people who can credibly run start-to-finish, and any of them could conceivably win the presidency," Norquist said....